Sean Mcmahon

A View the Foyle Commanding Sean Mcmahon

With its 400th anniversary looming, Foyle College has commissioned a new high-quality book to celebrate both the past and the future of education in the city. Foyle College is poised on the edge of an exciting future - built on four centuries of tradition. Founded by the Merchant Taylor, Mathias Springham, in 1617, as the Free Grammar School, it became Foyle College in 1814 and eventually merged with the Londonderry Academical Institution in 1896. Further mergers took place among schools in the city until in 1976 the Foyle and Londonderry Amalgamation Act resulted in the city's first coeducational grammar school. An editorial team composed of former pupils and interested members of staff will draw on the substantial and detailed records of all predecessor schools to provide a vibrant illustrated portrait of the educational legacy. First-hand pupil accounts of lived experiences from the early 20th century to the present will be a key feature of the book. This format of this book will be thematic and will include reminiscences by former pupils, staff and governors, as well as important events in the history of the College.